The best theatre for autumn 2012

This House James Graham has a formidable track-record as a chronicler of modern history: in Eden's Empire (2006) he tackled the Suez Crisis. He now moves to a larger stage with a play about 1974, when an inconclusive election raised the spectre of coalition government. Phil Daniels and Philip Glenister star. National theatre, London , 18 September to 1 December The Astronaut's Chair Why didn't women play a bigger part in the space race? Rona Munro explores the female pioneers who aimed to fly higher. Drum theatre, Plymouth , 20 September to 6 October The Legend of Woesterdam Studio Orka, a Belgian collective of site-specific artists, has created this adventure show for children aged eight-12 in a secret location. A huge hit all over Europe, it tells of a city where people have lost the ability to love. Mitcham Common, London, organised by the Unicorn theatre , 21 to 23 September Medea Rachael Stirling plays a woman spurned, with murderous consequences. Mike Bartlett rewrites Euripides to make it a play for today, in which Medea is a modern wife and mother intent on punishing the man who has deserted her. Citizens' theatre, Glasgow , 27 September to 13 October, then touring. headlongtheatre.co.uk Red Velvet Indhu Rubasingham kicks off her tenure at the Tricycle with a new play by Lolita Chakrabarti about the 19th-century African American actor Ira Aldridge. Adrian Lester plays this iconic figure, who broke down cultural barriers by playing many Shakespearean roles traditionally reserved for white actors. Tricycle, London , 11 October to 24 November The River After Jerusalem , Jez Butterworth's new play has been eagerly awaited: there has been a real hoo-ha over the fact that Ian Rickson's production takes place in the tiny Theatre Upstairs. But it is an intimate three-hander, starring Dominic West, Miranda Raison and Laura Donnelly, and it seems right that artistic considerations should predominate. Tickets for each night's show will be available online from 9am or at the box-office from 10am. Royal Court, London , 18 October to 17 November The Effect Enron writer Lucy Prebble is reunited with director Rupert Goold in this exploration of love and neurology. Billie Piper and Jonjo O'Neill will star as the lovers who meet while undertaking a pharmaceutical research trial. Tickets go on sale 24 September. National theatre, London. 23 November to January 2013. nationaltheatre.org.uk The Spire William Golding had aspirations to be a playwright but it is the novels everyone remembers. It seems right that Salisbury Playhouse should stage the premiere of Roger Spottiswode's adaptation of this 1964 fable, about a dean gripped by the obsession that he has been chosen by God to build a huge cathedral spire. Salisbury Playhouse, 1 to 24 November Rats' Tales Folk tales from around the world reinvented for the stage. The pairing of poet laureate Carol Ann Duffy with director/designer Melly Still should make this a terrific family show. Expect something enchanting, cheeky and a little bit dark. Royal Exchange, Manchester , 29 November to 12 January 2013